Burglaries reported on Vine Street
Burglaries were reported Monday at two houses on Vine Street in Athens, but police don't know if the crimes are related, Athens-Clarke police said.

Police consider poison report
The Barrow County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether a Winder woman in critical condition at Athens Regional Medical Center was poisoned by her husband. The 50-year-old woman's sister told an Athens-Clarke police sergeant she was concerned that if the woman died, her husband would have her cremated so there would be no autopsy, reports said.

Visitor reports dog nabbed from yard
A South Carolina woman staying at a Beaverdam Road residence reported Tuesday her white Maltese dog named "Gretchen" was stolen from the front yard between 2 and 4 p.m., Athens-Clarke police said.

Teen flees police at slow speed
An Athens teen led officers on a low-speed chase early Tuesday before he apparently crashed his car on purpose into an apartment building in west Athens, Athens-Clarke police said.

Stereo lifted in auto break-in
A Tamara Court man reported someone smashed the window of his 1997 Honda Civic while it was parked on West Broad Street between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and a compact disc player, several cases of CDs, subwoofers, an amplifier and capacitor with a total value of $6,225 were stolen, Athens-Clarke police said.

Police say man admits to setting fire
JEFFERSON - A Loganville man is facing an arson charge in Jackson County for allegedly setting a chicken house on fire "to stay warm," according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Lewd acts reported at Ben Burton Park
An unidentified caller reported to police Tuesday that two men were having sex at a picnic table within sight of children at Ben Burton Park off Mitchell Bridge Road, Athens-Clarke police said.

Speeder arrested despite excuse
A man's excuse for speeding - that he was on his way to get a pregnant relative to the hospital - didn't work, after Athens-Clarke police found cocaine in his car.

Freshman runs Tigers past Buffaloes
ORLANDO, Fla. - James Davis walked out of the Citrus Bowl with the game ball under one arm and the most valuable player trophy under the other.

Hawkins hopes to leave a winner
BOISE, Idaho - Boise State coach Dan Hawkins finally got his wish: a ranked team from a Bowl Championship Series conference playing the Broncos on their famed blue turf.

Bailey uncertain for next season
ATLANTA - West Virginia has spent Sugar Bowl practice time working on defending long passes for its Jan. 2 game against Georgia.

Key offensive players out for Miami, LSU
ATLANTA - Miami will be without starting receiver Ryan Moore and LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell is out with an injury for Friday's Peach Bowl, but the teams' coaches said Tuesday they have backups ready to play.

Happy back in California
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The Texas Longhorns arrived in California last year feeling unwanted, dismissed by their West Coast hosts as the swaggering braggarts who bumped the Pac-10 out of the "Granddaddy" of bowl games.

Tradition vs. tradition
SAN ANTONIO - Michigan coach Lloyd Carr does not consider the Alamo Bowl a comedown for a program with Rose Bowl appearances the last two years and nine straight New Year's Day berths.

Carroll agrees to contract extension
LOS ANGELES - Pete Carroll, who coached Southern California from mediocrity to dominance since being hired in 2001, agreed to a contract extension with the school.

Harris receives chance to shine
ATLANTA - Kenneth Harris' season with a bang with a 40-yard touchdown on his first college reception against Boise State. The redshirt freshman wide receiver hopes to end the season with similar fireworks when he replaces an injured Sean Bailey in the Georgia starting lineup in Monday's Sugar Bowl.

Rucker enjoys rosy situation
ATLANTA - The focus for college football fans in the Peach and Mountain states may be on next Monday's Sugar Bowl between Georgia and West Virginia, but the nation's eyes will turn to the monster matchup two days later in Pasadena, Calif.

Henry Shirah: Fighting war on terror requires unsavory tactics
Many thanks to Ed Tant for his history lesson from World War I (Column, "One Christmas Eve, the battlefield became a place of peace," Dec. 24). Tant is usually very good at researching his subject even if sometimes it is hard to swallow. Well done.

Alan L. Gordon: UGA students need to improve writing
I'm glad University of Georgia President Michael Adams wants to increase emphasis on students' writing skills, and I'm also glad to see the Athens Banner-Herald's praise of Adams (Editorial, "UGA's writing focus will help all its students," Dec. 27).

Grady L. Cornish: Perdue's meddling in USG troubling
The Perdue administration took office with the notion the University System of Georgia is simply a department of state government. Gov. Sonny Perdue's political meddling in the University System of Georgia is evidenced in his first budget proposal, which was infused with the motive of eliminating programs within the University System supported by his political adversaries. In violation of the state constitution, he bypassed the University System Board of Regents and proposed elimination of several programs, including the Center for Civic Engagement and Renewal in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. The General Assembly rejected his recommendation, but, in violation of the constitution, Perdue publicly announced "deferral" of funds for the program in June 2003, which resulted in termination of all staff.

Karen Hale Hankins: Teachers know honor of their profession
I continue to shake my head at the glaring omission of any interviews of teachers who were part of the continued exodus of teachers at Clarke County's Fowler Drive Elementary School. (Story, "Teacher turnover rate holds steady: High, but in line with district poverty level," Nov. 11). The accusatory reasons cited have the finger pointing in the wrong direction and are indicative of a lack of respect for teachers. I sought out teachers who had left over the past few years and conducted my own interviews. Of those I spoke with, not one cited the population of Fowler Drive as even a secondary reason for leaving.

Barbara Stewart: Churches could help local homeless shelters
This year, most of us were blessed to be able to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah in our warm homes with family and friends. We shared an abundance of food, had enough heat and water to keep our homes warm and our bodies clean, and still had our jobs. Sometimes it doesn't take much to upset that balance.

Laura Richmond: Adams' words on writing hard to take seriously
There is something that bothers me about the lead-in to the Athens Banner-Herald's Dec. 27 editorial ("UGA's writing focus will help all its students"). The quote from University of Georgia President Michael Adams' 2005 State of the University address only reminds me of the hypocrisy of UGA administrators. How can we take Adams' eloquent words about the importance of writing well seriously, when we know he doesn't bother to write his own speeches. He has a very well-paid speechwriter for that odious task.

Jam band back to ring in new year
It was around late 2000 when Savannah quartet Perpetual Groove formed as a band. During its first year or two, Perpetual Groove (or PGroove as they've been affectionately labeled by fans), were struggling to break out of their local scene and were just beginning to tour regionally, mainly focusing on expanding their fan base with frequent shows around North and South Carolina and Georgia. Without an official album release at the time, PGroove took to passing out free CDs of live shows to anyone and everyone who showed up.

Davis: And we've come full circle
And so, it has come to pass that another year is done. The stockings are still misshapen from those oranges and jumbo candy canes. And people from coast to coast are lamenting all of the food that they shouldn't have eaten, laughing at that funky sweater that so-and-so gave to them and trying to figure out exactly what to do with that fruitcake. I swear that I just wrote this exact column a couple of days ago. You know, the column preparing for a new year and the possibilities and expectations therein. Somehow, either the world or I have become stuck in a loop. I don't quite know what to make of it all. So much has happened that sifting through it all can be a painful task.

Pretty party pieces
Contrary to popular belief, entertaining can be hassle-free and fun. Whether you're planning a cocktail party or a formal dinner, serve items that can be made in advance so that you can enjoy the event as well.

Glitter tries to buy lighter sentence
Former rock star Gary Glitter paid $4,000 to the families of Vietnamese girls he is accused of sexually abusing in exchange for their cooperation, his lawyer said.

'Toy Story,' 'Hoop Dreams' added to film registry
The documentary "Hoop Dreams" and footage of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake are among the 25 movies picked this year for the National Film Registry, a compilation of significant films being preserved by the Library of Congress.

Girls just want to have fun
on Broadway
Cyndi Lauper will join Alan Cumming, Jim Dale, Ana Gasteyer and Nellie McKay in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of "The Threepenny Opera," opening April 20 at Broadway's Studio 54.

Pair of CBS shows available on your PC this week
Joining the trend of TV shows migrating to the Internet, a pair of episodes from the CBS comedies "Two and a Half Men" and "How I Met Your Mother" are being offered for free video streaming this week from the Yahoo! Web site.

Phillips: Really: Happy new year
Oh sure, we did plenty of "Happy New Year-ing" in 2004, throwing our good wishes out there for 2005, but, let's face it: Precious little good it did us. Happiness was not the operative emotion across the globe this year.

Lewis: The Action 5!
OK, children, it's that time of year again. Presents are being returned, resolutions are still weeks away from being broken and journalists across this great land of ours are racking their brains to pick those all-important year-end best-of lists. The Action 5 is nothing if not a creature of habit, so in keeping with this time-tested annual tradition, I give you...

Music of 2005
They're almost too easy to compare. Both highly iconoclastic, stringently singular personalities. Both deeply concerned with private and public faith, highly attuned to the everyday dilemmas and national crises that test our belief. Both aggressively ambitious, frighteningly prolific and absurdly talented. Both susceptible to moments of pomposity and nattering self-righteousness, though equally capable of scathingly honest self-critique.

Farewell again
Eighteen months ago, the musical duo Bronkar & Cyndi performed a farewell show in Athens before heading west to Oakland, Calif.

Voice of the 'PeopleS'
Three-night stands at the Georgia Theatre often are described as ambitious. Each winter, a large fraction of the denizens (read: nearly the entire student body) migrate to suburban Atlanta and points beyond. So when a jam band like Perpetual Groove hunkers down in Athens the last three days of December, it can be perceived as overkill, or at the very least peculiar.

Movies Now Playing in Athens
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - Steve Martin's tiresome follow-up to his 2003 hit about a family with 12 children is innocuous enough, its heart in the right spot even if it did misplace its brain. (David Germain, Associated Press) 120 min. PG. Beechwood: 5:05, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. daily, with additional shows at 12:20 and 2:45 p.m. daily through Monday; Carmike: Noon, 2:20, 4:40, 7 and 9:20 p.m. daily.

'The Producers' true to Brooks' Broadway musical
'The Producers" is full of cornball jokes, painful rhymes and tacky musical numbers. It mocks neo-Nazis, traffics in the most flamboyant gay stereotypes and spends much of its time leering at busty, long-legged women. All of it is done in extremely juvenile, gleeful bad taste.

Eagles hang on for victory
PITTSBURGH - Craig Smith scored 21 points and held off a late Duquesne comeback bid by scoring on three consecutive Boston College possessions, leading the No. 13 Eagles to an 81-69 victory Tuesday night aided by backup forward Akida McLain's 17 points.

Great eight
It had been a long time since the final minute mattered more to people in Stegeman Coliseum than beating traffic. But that happened Wednesday against Clemson as the Bulldogs brought a solid crowd of 9,204 to a standing ovation that lasted after the horn.

Soldiers begin returning from Iraq
FORT STEWART - The 19,000 members of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division are returning to Georgia after a yearlong tour in Iraq that cost the lives of 103 of their buddies, including two on Christmas Day.

Watchdog group: Shooting will damage department's image
NEW ORLEANS - The officers who gunned down a knife-wielding man appeared to be justified in using lethal force, but the death will be perceived as a black mark on the beleaguered police department, the head of a watchdog group said Tuesday.

Method of snagging suspected terrorists under investigation
WASHINGTON - The CIA's independent watchdog is investigating fewer than 10 cases where terror suspects may have been mistakenly swept away to foreign countries by the spy agency, a figure lower than published reports but enough to raise some concerns.

Woman charged with molesting 6-year-old
JEFFERSON - A 25-year-old Pendergrass woman faces charges that she molested a 6-year-old boy at a friend's house by making the child touch her inappropriately, according to investigators and court records.

Survey shows unwanted births up
ATLANTA - More American women are having babies they didn't want, a survey indicates, but federal researchers say they don't know if that means attitudes about abortion are changing.

Hospital dump is rejected
The state Environmental Protection Division has denied a request by Athens Regional Medical Center to use a vacant residential lot north of Prince Avenue to dispose of dirt from a recently started hospital expansion.

Relatives charged in arson
JEFFERSON - An Athens brother and sister teamed up with their uncle to burn down the trailer of an elderly Jackson County man, as the trio fought with the man's caretaker, authorities said.

Women ordered held without bond
ATLANTA - A federal judge Tuesday ordered two women indicted for forcing young women from Brazil into prostitution held without bond.

Suspect was among witnesses interviewed
FORT OGLETHORPE - A man arrested after an attempted robbery at a Wal-Mart was among witnesses taken to the police station following a shootout between a second suspect and police outside the store, authorities said Wednesday.

Two discrimination suits filed in county
Two former 911 operators at Greene County's E-911 Center have sued the Greene County government in U.S. District Court, charging they were discriminated against because of their race and gender when they were both fired in September 2004.

Eight killed as prisoners try to escape
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Inmates stormed a prison armory in a northern Baghdad suburb Wednesday, with one grabbing an AK-47 rifle from an Iraqi guard and firing indiscriminately, killing eight people and wounding a U.S. soldier, Iraqi and American military officials said.

Bowling a strike among students
READING, Pa. - It's practice time, and the high school students vying for a spot on the varsity squad aren't at the gym. The action is down at the Bowl-O-Rama.

Texas, Oklahoma fires leave 5 dead
CROSS PLAINS, Texas - By the time the smoke cleared Wednesday, more than 100 homes across wildfire-stricken Texas and Oklahoma lay in ruins and at least five people were dead, including two elderly women trapped in their homes by the flames.

Ex-Enron exec reportedly makes deal, will avoid trial
HOUSTON - Enron's former chief accounting officer, Richard Causey, has struck a plea bargain with federal prosecutors and will avoid going to trial with the fallen energy company's two top executives, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

County tables development code changes
Jackson County commissioners have put off until February a decision on 194 proposed changes to the county's development code, the laws that regulate development in the fast-growing area northeast of metro Atlanta.

Firm confident it can cure financial woes at hospital
Although Minnie G. Boswell Memorial Hospital in Greensboro lost close to $50,000 between the time a Miami-based hospital management firm bought the facility in early September and the end of that month, representatives said they are not worried about the hospital's finances.

Madison tax rate may rise
DANIELSVILLE - Madison County taxpayers could see a hike in county property tax, after three straight years of cuts, thanks to some big expansions in county services, lower-than-expected county revenues and a half-million-dollar misunderstanding.

Newsmakers 2005: Sports
D.J. Shockley won't go down in University of Georgia football history as one of the all-time statistical leaders at quarterback, but he'll surely be remembered as one of the most respected.

Hunting in parks 'win-win'
Inviting orange-clad, rifle-toting hunters into state parks is the latest strategy wildlife managers are using to rein in deer populations, a plan that will continue next month after an inaugural November hunt.

Shiites and Kurds talk amid election protests; grave found
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Shiite religious bloc leading Iraq's parliamentary elections held talks Tuesday with Kurdish leaders about who should get the top 12 government jobs, as thousands of Sunni Arabs and secular Shiites protested what they say was a tainted vote.

10 apply to fill seat on planning commission
Of the 10 applicants the Oconee County Commission is considering to fill a vacant post on the Oconee County Planning Commission, three applicants turned in their applications after the advertised Dec. 16 deadline. But their tardiness will not be held against them.

Adviser to Russian president resigns
MOSCOW - An outspoken economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that he was resigning, saying he could no longer work in a government that had done away with political freedoms. The government later said Putin signed a decree dismissing him.

Black lawmakers vow to repeal voter ID law
ATLANTA - At the end of a losing battle in the final days of last year's legislative session, Georgia State Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan burst into a rendition of "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around," one of the anthems of the civil rights' movement.

Playing Santa for the day
For the past three years at Christmastime, many of the young residents of Watkinsville's Keeneland subdivision have become well acquainted with the idea that it's more blessed to give than to receive.

New businesses approved by council
The Watkinsville City Council approved a half dozen business licenses and building permits in a meeting on Dec. 14 that began with Mayor Jim Luken presenting awards for the annual Christmas parade.

USDA research ecologist honored at annual meeting
Alan J. Franzluebbers has received the honor of Fellow of both the American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America during the 2005 annual meetings of the two societies held last month in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Artwork and computer classes set for library
In January, the Oconee County Library will feature "Celebrating a Sense of Community," a photograph display from the joint efforts of the Oconee County Senior Center and area school children.

Sacco: Judge right in turning back 'intelligent design' teaching in class
The less knowledge you invest in a belief, the more wrong you're likely to be. This rang true when a student of mine argued that the Apollo missions were a hoax - as I read Neil Armstrong's account of his moon experience aloud to my class. The student saw a television program which refuted the lunar landings; he followed it up with Internet "research," and then tried to persuade the class I'd been duped. He gravely counseled that teachers shouldn't fall prey to government propaganda, and then went on to incriminate me for having omitted Bigfoot during a lecture on human origins.

2005 was a disaster of a year
On balance, 2005 has been a year of anguish domestically and internationally; a year in which nature conspired to hurt those humans who had not derived ways of hurting themselves or their neighbors.

Watkinsville is becoming model for development
Watkinsville, the picturesque county seat of Oconee County, is working hard to market itself as a center of arts tourism, to the point of beginning to bill itself as the "Art Land of Georgia."

Opening win sweet for Rakestraw, Jefferson
WATKINSVILLE - Duran Rakestraw scored 23 points as Jefferson returned from a week-long break to beat Madison County 74-61 in the first round of the Sweet South Classic at Oconee County High School on Wednesday.

Owner: Billick will return to coach Ravens
OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Brian Billick will return as coach of the Baltimore Ravens next year, the result of owner Steve Bisciotti's belief that continuity is the best way for the team to end a run of two straight disappointing seasons.

Brezec's basket beats Atlanta
ATLANTA- Primoz Brezec made the go-ahead basket in the final seconds and Brevin Knight scored 22 points as the Charlotte Bobcats beat the Atlanta Hawks 93-90 on Tuesday night.

Retired pitcher attempts robbery
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Jeff Reardon, one of the top relief pitchers in history, was charged with robbing a jewelry store, then blamed his arrest on medication he was taking for depression.

Historic title top story
NEW YORK - When the White Sox won the World Series for the first time in nearly nine decades, it took awhile for Jerry Reinsdorf to realize what the title meant to many in Chicago.